Rocacorba Daily

Tuesday July 29, 2014

by Matt de Neef - July 29, 2014

In this morning's edition of the Rocacorba Daily news digest: Juan Jose Lobato wins stage 3 of the Tour de Wallonie; Cookson - Riis and Vinokourov should talk to the CIRC; Ji Cheng becomes the first Chinese rider to finish the Tour de France; Geraint Thomas re-signs with Sky for two years; Sky keen to develop a women's team?; Kazhakstan keen for a Tour de France Grand Depart; Taylor Phinney's leg scars from USA National Championships crash; On-board footage of Marianne Vos winning La Course.

Juan Jose Lobato wins stage 3 of the Tour de Wallonie

Spanish sprinter Juan Lose Lobato (Movistar) has won stage 3 of the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium, claiming the bunch kick into Neufchâteau for his first victory of the season.

Image: Movistar

Lobato had previously finished second on six occasions this season, but yesterday took his first win in Movistar colours on the 174km stage which featured seven categorised climbs and cold, wet conditions.

“It was an incredible finish”, Lobato said. “It might seem looking at the gap against my rivals that it was easy, but not at all. It was really beautiful: we came into the last descent at more than 70 kph, with lots of attacks, but thanks to my team-mates, I could keep myself calm, come into good position and make my sprint.”

Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) picked up his third second-place finish in three stages and now leads overall by 11 seconds over Lobato. Zico Waeytens (TopSport-Vlaanderen) is third, another eight seconds behind Lobato, ahead of the fourth of five stages today.

Cookson: Riis and Vinokourov should talk to the CIRC

In an interview after the final stage of the Tour de France, UCI president Brian Cookson has called for Bjarne Riis and Alexander Vinokourov to testify to CIRC, Cycling’s Independent Reform Commission, in order to help the sport move on.

“I would like both of them to come to the commission,” Cookson told The Guardian. “The commission doesn’t have powers of subpoena, but there is a court of public opinion here which is really important; those two people and others as well need to bear that in mind if they want to continue to operate in our world, opinion in the world of cycling would be much more favourable towards them if they came forward.”

Both Vinokourov and Riis are still heavily involved in professional cycling — the former as general manager of Tour de France-winning team Astana, the latter as director sportif of Tinkoff-Saxo — and both have been associated with doping in the past.

Vinokourov served a two-year ban for blood doping in 2007 and in the same year Riis confessed to having doped throughout his career; a career that included victory at the 1996 Tour de France.

“We’ve got a rule that says if you’ve got a major anti-doping violation you can’t be involved with a team, but our advice is that it’s difficult to employ that retroactively,” Cookson said.

“So what I want to try to do is find ways in which we can reassure people that the people who are involved in the sport, who may have had a history, have renounced that and given a commitment to work with us in a way that respects the rules, and is clean.”

CIRC was established to “investigate the problems cycling has faced in recent years” and, despite being funded by the UCI, operates independently of the governing body.

Ji Cheng becomes the first Chinese rider to finish the Tour de France

Ji Cheng (Giant-Shimano) has become the first Chinese rider to finish the Tour de France, after crossing the finish line on the Champs-Elysees a lap behind the main field on Sunday.

Ji finished last overall (the “lanterne rouge”), more than six hours behind winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), after spending much of the three weeks on the front of the peloton, controlling the tempo and reeling in breakaways. He suffered in the mountains, but always made the time cut, despite suffering from a knee injury.

“The hardest moments were just the first week and the last week,” he said. “The first week had more sprint stages and we had more chances for victories so I was working hard to control the group and working hard on the front. That was a hard week.”

“And the last week because I was injured in the left knee. Already I wasn’t looking forward to the mountains because of my injury which was so painful.”

Ji is now looking forward to a break from cycling as he recovers from Le Tour.

“I will try to relax because I got married but 20 days later I came back to Europe for a training camp and then racing and it’s been eight months now since I’ve been home. That’s really long, I will try to relax and not think any more about cycling.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips, and here to read more at VeloNews/AFP.

Geraint Thomas re-signs with Sky for two years

Geraint Thomas has signed a new deal which will keep the British rider at Team Sky until the end of 2016. The 28-year-old Welshman has been with Team Sky from the start in 2010 and is one of eight British riders currently on the roster.

On renewing his Team Sky contract, Geraint Thomas said: “I’m really happy to be staying with Team Sky for another two years. I’ve been here since the start and I firmly believe it is the best place for me to fulfil my potential as a bike rider. I feel very supported here and I’m excited about what the future holds. I’ll look forward to challenging myself both on and off the bike and striving to become the very best at what I do.”

Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: “We’re delighted that Geraint has re-signed for another two years. He’s been with Team Sky since we began and has been essential to the success that we’ve had. Team Sky has always been built around a strong British core – developing and nurturing home-grown talent to be the best they can be – and Geraint has been at the heart of that.”

Click here to read more at the Team Sky website. Text adapted from a Team Sky press release.

Sky keen to develop a women’s team?

Meanwhile Dave Brailsford has suggested that Team Sky is interested in setting up a women’s team in order to support “great parity” between men’s and women’s cycling.

“We’ve got some brilliant female cyclists,” Brailsford told BBC Sport. “We all are very aware that there needs to be a greater parity, not just in road cycling but across all disciplines, both at Olympic and professional level.”

Brailsfords comments come just days after the first ever edition of La Course, an 89km circuit race on Paris’ Champs-Elysees on the final day of the Tour de France.

While there’s little more detail about what a women’s Team Sky might look like, it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about its possible formation. There was similar talk in early 2013 following Sky and Brailsford’s involvement in the British Wiggle-Honda squad.

Kazhakstan keen for a Tour de France Grand Depart

The President of Kazakh Cycling, Kairat Kelimbetov, has told AFP that the Central Asian nation wants to host a Tour de France Grand Depart, his comments coming just days after the Kazakh Astana squad won the Tour with Vincenzo Nibali.

The skyline of Astana.

Kelimbetov, who also heads up Kazakhstan’s central bank, said the country is negotiating for a chance to host the race before 2020.

“It’s like a joke now, but this Yorkshire experience is very interesting for us,” said Kelimbetov. “The Tour de France has become global and cycling has become global and everyone was absolutely excited when five million people came onto the streets” in England.

“The idea is to one day bring it to Kazakhstan,” he said. “It took three years for Yorkshire to be prepared and I think we could deliver it also.”

It’s nearly 5,000km from Astana (the country’s capital) to Paris, but the western tip of Kazakhstan is part of Europe, Kelimbetov said, “so why not?”

Taylor Phinney’s leg scars from USA National Championships crash

Taylor Phinney (BMC) was having a great season before his crash at the US National Champions in May: he’d won the Tour of Dubai, the US national time trial and a thrilling stage win at the Tour of California. But ever since the crash, Phinney has been undergoing rehabilitation after breaking his leg in two places.

The American posted a photo to Twitter yesterday showing the extent of the surgery required to repair his leg.

On-board footage of Marianne Vos winning La Course

In the weeks leading up to La Course by Le Tour de France, the women’s race on the Champs-Elysees before the final stage of the Tour de France, there were reports that the live broadcast would feature footage from on-board cameras. Sadly we didn’t see any of that footage during the race, but we do now have on-board footage from Marianne Vos’s bike as she won the final sprint at 68km/h.

Check it out below:

The Rocacorba Recap

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips:

68km/hr? My tv screen showed Kittel was doing 64.7km/hr as he crossed the line. That into a headwind with a slight rise on an uneven surface. Vos was interviewed after her win and talked about the headwind and rough surface too. She’s fast, but not as fast as Kittel.

Steve G

They use a radar gun don’t they? Unless it wasn’t calibrated or something then I would guess she hit 68km/h.
Otherwise every other cycling press site is wrong as well.

Yeah, there was reportedly a guy near the finish with a radar gun.That 68km/h was reported on TV straight after the finish.

Simon

Yes it was discussed on tv by Henk Vogels et al I believe. I did see the finish and my tv screen showed 58km/hr as she crossed. Even on the track the top female sprinters can do a very respectable mid 60s in the still air of a velodrome but I still doubt very much Vos carried an extra 3-4 km/hr over Kittel into a headwind.

Dave

Do radar guns work for cyclists? I would have thought that the best reflections coming from all the metal moving parts would make it unreliable, along with the problem of the small targets.

Radar guns are designed for use with cars, where all the moving parts are concealed inside the bodywork.

The definitive answer will only come from looking at the TV footage and counting the frames from the last distance board.

Sean

maybe the wind kicked up later in the day? The ladies were sprinting very fast, I wouldn’t doubt a figure above 60kph.

Sean

Also i’d hate to think how well the lady who finished 2nd would go if she got herself into shape :-)

Pretty sure you’re just trolling, Sean (again?!), but for the benefit of others who mightn’t be as familiar with the women’s peloton, the woman who finished second is Kirsten Wild (http://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/Kirsten_Wild). She’s won 12 races this year, finished second another four times and utterly dominated the Ladies Tour of Qatar early in the year (three wins in four stages, plus the points and general classification). Video from stage 1 of that race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewqIeNphHXk

Sean

Well yes and no, it was a mix of seriousness and some sarcasm. She’s obviously a great rider with a very fast finish, she just looked a little hefty. When I see riders doing so well who are clearly fatter than their peers, the first thing I think is “what if?” … surely i’m not the only one.

she’s just a big sprinter like Greipel. women don’t tend to have that muscular definition like the guys. it’s unfair to imply she’s not committed.

Dave

I wonder what Sean thought of the two fat ladies from Adelaide who raced off for the Commonwealth sprint medals on Sunday night.

Jonty Paulsen

You still here Jules? Get a life mate..

Jonty Paulsen

I agree she’s huge not very aero perhaps she’s preggo

jules

who cares what speed she hit? none of the roadies sprint as fast as the track sprinters either. they are the best women roadies in the world.

i’ve stood next to club riders making sneering comments at women’s grades “oh, 35 km/h.. gimme a break”. dude you are in a club B grade race, do you want a medal for doing 41?

Jonty Paulsen

Shutup Jules you race D grade and never get off these forums.. Women’s cycling sucks everyone is just too politically correct to admit it they raced for 2 hours all fresh along the champs and averaged 43kmh.. the men after 3 weeks did 48km/h like come on

RacingCondor

Ah yes the same pathetic trolling that always comes up.
By the same logic I assume football supporters should all support Real Madrid and all other teams should hang up their boots? Why play when you’re not on the best team in the world?
Or is sport about the story and the competition rather than the absolutes.

Phil

Seriously??? Troll?
Personally I found that the women’s World champ road race last year was much more exciting than the mens’ race. Overall speed means nothing to me, by your logic I assume you enjoy watching flat stages rather than mountain stages because the avg speed is faster? What matters most is exciting racing (attacks etc.) which is present in both mens and womens.

On the TV, the caption came up immediately the race finished as 58km/h. But the commentator said ‘almost 70km/h’. It was confusing at thee time, and now also!

dbranson

Vos video is amazing, shows what it takes to get it done!!!

jules

she is phenomenal. what’s interesting in that video is the gap she appears to be leaving to the wheel in front. i don’t know if it’s video perspective or not, but she looks like she was pushing a lot of wind before starting her sprint.

xponti

Sometimes a sprinter will make a “run” at the rider in front to get a kind of slingshot effect. Wind up and use the slipstream to get that final bit of speed and then out into the wind proper. I think Robbie McEwan used this technique sometimes.

You don’t need to be right on the wheel to be getting protection. there is a trade off better shelter for the wind and being able to make a run at the person you’re following. A lot of riders will back it off a little and then accelerate in the slipstream and when they step out into the wind, they’re already doing a few k’s an hour more than the rider who was immediately in front of them.

kurti_sc

great finish. Vos just picked a very good position and followed it through. She had a gutsy move to the inside and then went up one by one. luckily, it worked out that by 1km, the 3rd place woman had just peeled off and all (well it’s not so easy, but still) she had to do was follow the lead and sprint. Excellent tactics. Excellent strength. A little luck on timing of the move and wham, she’s the winner.
Back to Sean’s comments on the 2nd place finisher. dude, that’s all about positioning. Nothing else. she would have beat anyone ahead of her at that point just due to drafting and putting in a good sprint. You should sleep on the couch tonight.

Jonty Paulsen

68km/h you’re kidding me.. We all know Vos is on the juice but doubt she would sprint at anything above 60km/h get your facts right they went 1.06 for the last km..

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